Love Conquers All
by standonceremonywithcaptainswan
Summary: An Ezria story; starting from series 2 episode 9, Aria comes to visit Ezra at his office with a plan.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Ezria fanfic, but the third fanfic I've written. This starts from series two, episode 9 "Picture This". So I've decided to leave out the Jason/Ezra/Aria love triangle and just focus on Ezria as they are my OTP! I've taken the basic outline of the episode but added my own twist to it and then added on. I don't own any of the characters/storylines/anything that is directly from Pretty Little Liars. All credit to the amazing Marlene King and Sara Shepard. **

_Chapter 1: Dreams_

We were hot and heavy in his office at Hollis, it was the middle of the day and I could hear students walking past his office. Ezra was on top of me, our bodies entwined together on his sofa. His hands were all over me, touching every part, his warm breath in my ear, on my neck. Slight moans were escaping out from my lips. My hips began to thrust, enticing him that this was what I wanted and he could have it. Our eyes locked together before I yanked his top off over his head and tossed it onto the floor. There wasn't time for us both to be undressed; there was a sense of urgency in our kisses, intoxicated by the excitement and fear that someone could walk in at any moment. My dress was up, his jeans were down, we were ready for this.

-Beep Beep Beep... Beep Beep Beep... Beep Beep Beep-

My alarm was ringing loudly, but that wasn't what woke me up. The loud moan that I had cried out and the fast paced thrusting of my hips was. It took me a few seconds to realise why I had been thrusting and whether or not the rest of the house had heard my moan - was it loud? How loud? Oh god. If Mum heard, am I going to get the sex talk? I hadn't even spoken to Ezra about sex yet.

I leapt out of bed and stood by the door for a few moments, but no one came to the door. I let out a sigh of relief, and walked to the bathroom. I took off my pyjama pants and underwear to discover they were both soaking wet. _Jesus Christ, _I thought to myself as I jumped into the shower.

This was about the 8th time I'd had a dream like this but I'd never had anything like this happen before, and this dream had hit me like a tonne of bricks. Was this a way of my subconscious telling me that I was ready? Was I ready? Ezra and I had been together for a long time, and we'd never done anything beyond some steamy makeout sessions and maybe some under the shirt stuff, and we'd never spoken going beyond that, so it never really crossed my mind. I think I was ready.

I got out the shower and decided that today was the day; the next time I saw Ezra, it was happening.

I only had a few clothes left that were clean, luckily they were clothes that I needed. Ezra and I loved movies, and so our first time would be just like the first time in movies; everything would be perfect. I had to plan this out thoroughly and so I decided to text Ezra to see where he was, and then I would go into the city to go shopping. I got an instant reply from Ezra telling me that he was at Hollis all day, but he had a free period at 1pm until 2pm. Perfect. I threw on some clothes, grabbed my keys and headed into the city.

1:30pm, Ezra was in his office, I could see him through the gap between the door and threshold. I had been waiting a while to make sure he was alone because once I stepped through the door, there was no way I was leaving until we'd made the next step. I was dressed in my perfect outfit; black lace bra that hooked at the front and pushed everything up and together, matching high waist lace knickers, tanned stockings underneath a black bodycon midi dress that zipped all the way from the top to the bottom teamed with black high heels; I covered the whole outfit with a knee length coat. My hair was tied in a topknot as to avoid my hair ruining the moment. This was it. I was going for it.

I walked into his office, Ezra had his back to me but he immediately turned round when I walked in. I did a quick scan of the room, and when I was certain he was alone, I began my movie-perfect seduction.

"God, why's it so hot in here," I announced as I shut the door. "Are you hot?" I unzipped my coat and dropped it on the floor.

His eyes almost popped out of his head, "I am now", he could barely get the words out, his eyes running up and down my body.

"I've been thinking that we could use some alone time."

Ezra looked completely confused and also slightly aroused, as he clearly didn't know what I had in store for him. I turned to the door. "How do you lock this thing?"

"Err, it doesn't lock," Ezra managed to get out. I gave him a seductive half smile and pushed a chair under the doorknob. I could hear Ezra's breath quickening, as he slowly put together what was happening. I turned to face him, and began to slowly unzip my dress, never taking my eyes off him.

"Ohh man," he said, and smiled. The smile quickly disappeared as I revealed what was under the dress and slowly made my way over to him. I grabbed him and kissed him as passionately as I knew how. The kiss was reciprocated for a few seconds, until he pulled away. I began to kiss his neck as he said "I-I have a class in 15 minutes".

I looked him in the eye and said, "That's plenty of time". We continued to kiss for a few more seconds until he again pulled away. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea." I was disappointed in his lack of enthusiasm, but it wasn't enough to deter me. I took off his tie and began to unbutton his shirt as I said "I think we spend entirely too much time thinking, don't you think?" He smiled at my honesty, and said "yeah", then he was kissing me so passionately, I was not prepared for it. His tongue was dancing with mine; our breath quickened as he lifted me up and walked us over to his sofa. I straddled him, kissing his deeper, our hands wandering, feeling every part of each other. Ezra switched our positions so that I was underneath him, just like the dream. I pulled his shirt off, and undid his belt. He went to unhook my bra, but I rolled us off the sofa and onto the floor before letting him do so. Luckily the floor was comfy enough; He took off my bra and smiled, "you're so beautiful Aria Montgomery." I smiled back, relieved that everything was going so well. Then it hit me. I didn't want to do it iike this. It was hot, don't get me wrong, especially as I could heard the students walking past, none of them knowing what was happening in here, but it felt dirty, and wrong. And it was just like Dad and Meredith. I jumped off him and began to dress as hot tears fell down my cheeks. Ezra leapt up and put his arms around me.

"Did I hurt you? Are you not ready yet? I didn't mean to push you," he said in his soothing, calm voice.

"No, it's nothing with you, I just… I don't want to do it like this. I feel cheap," I couldn't look him in the eye, but he lifted up my chin so I had no choice but to.

"You're not cheap. And you're nothing like your father and Meredith." _So he knew, _I thought to myself. "We're in love, and that was a mistake your father made, he never had feelings for Meredith like how I have feelings for you". He picked up my dress from the floor and zipped it back up all before giving me a kiss on the forehead. Ezra then began to dress as I sat down on the sofa and tried to force myself to stop crying.

"I wanted it to be like a movie," I admitted, mumbling slightly. It was so embarrassing to talk about, but I knew I could. "I wanted it to be perfect". I began to cry again. Ezra was dressed now, and he came and sat next to me and put his arm around me.

"It will be perfect, I promise. How about tonight we ditch sexy Aria, and bring back normal Aria who likes to watch black and white movies in my sweatpants and eat takeout?" I turned to look at him. His beautiful blue eyes had such a warmth to them; he had a way of making everything okay, and the way he was looking at me proved it.

"I love you, Ezra Fitz."

"I love you too, Aria Montgomery". We kissed one more time, and then I decided it was time to leave. I grabbed my coat and bag, kissed Ezra once more, and then left.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2; Love_

_Aria:_

If I had been dating anyone else, I'm 100% sure that I would have been feeling really embarrassed about what just happened. Instead, I left Hollis feeling even more confident in our relationship and that I was certain Ezra and I were in a mature, adult relationship. As I walked through the corridor of Hollis, I suddenly became very aware that I was dressed far too formally for a college student. I also started to panic in case I ran into my dad; what was I supposed to say? 'Oh hey dad, don't mind me, I was just trying to have sex with my older boyfriend, you know, the one you hate?' I walked as quickly as I could back to my car, threw my heels and coat in the back seat, put on Ezra's jumper that was, for some reason, in my car and started the engine. I just pulled out of the car park when my dad drove in. I gave him a quick wave, and sped off down the road, back to Rosewood.

I got home at just after 2, and decided to have a bath. I filled it to the brim with bubbles, and just laid there for a while, happy in the knowledge that no A messages were being sent to me, I had no homework to do, and that I was going to spend tonight with Ezra. Everything was perfect.

After about an hour I got out the bath, wrapped a towel around my hair and another around my body, and went into my room to find some clothes for tonight. I'd just finished pulling on a pair of jeans and my comfiest jumper when my dad knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said, as I sat down at my desk to detangle my hair. My dad entered, looking both worried and angry.

"Dad, is everything okay?" He took a deep breath before answering.

"Why were you at Hollis today?" Blood drained from my face; I should have guessed this was coming. "And don't say you were there looking for me, you know I don't start until 2pm on Fridays, and you looked awfully dressed up for a quite chat with your dad". He knew. _Quick Aria, _I thought, _think!_

"Yeah, I was modelling for some freshman at the university," I lied. "They're doing a fashion module and they asked me to help out." I smiled at my dad, and carried on with my hair, trying to act as normal as possible, but my heart was beating faster than a hummingbird.

"Oh, okay". He believed me. _Damn, _I thought, _sometimes I hate being a good liar. _"Well how'd it go?"

"It was great," I said, now attempting to plait my hair. "It took longer than expected, and but I'm really happy with the results." I smiled at myself in the mirror.

"Well when can I see the photos?" Blood re-drained from my face, again.

"I'm not sure, but I'll let you know," lying was definitely becoming second nature at this point. "The girls who took the photos aren't great at editing, they might take a while to get the photos sorted".

"Okay, no problem. Where are you off to tonight?"

"Spencer's. We're having take out and watching a few movies".

"Okay, have fun." He took out his wallet and gave me $40. "I know this is a lot, but make sure you have a good night." He smiled at me, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

I quickly turned on some music so that my dad couldn't hear the deep sigh of relief I was about to release. How did I get away with that?

_Ezra:_

As I watched Aria leave my office, I couldn't believe how amazing she was. She was definitely something special, and I never wanted to let her go. Tonight I was going to make it really special, to show her how much she means to me, whether we end it in bed together or not. I decided to skip my last class, and go into the city to get some supplies. As I walked out the building, I sent a quick email to John, asking him to cover my class, and I made sure Aria had left the car park before I got anywhere near my car.

It didn't take me long to get into the city, the roads were surprisingly silent, but it meant I had more time to shop and get everything ready for tonight. Aria wanted it to be special, and I was going to make damn sure that that happened for her. My first time was with Maggie, and it was horrible and messy and I didn't want that to happen to Aria. It was so sweet of her to dress up for me, but that wasn't how I wanted to spend our first time together. I bought several candles; both pillar and tea lights, some blankets, roses and lilies.

By the time I got back home, it was about 4ish; I'd spent way too much time deciding on what to buy, but I was happy with what I had. I texted Aria saying that she should come round at 5:30pm, leaving me an hour and a half to set up and get dinner. I started by pushing the sofa against the balcony doors, leaving us enough space on the floor, which I covered in blankets and pillows. I then put candles on every surface I could, making sure they wouldn't cause a fire. I then put the three bouquets of roses I bought into their vases and placed them next to the TV and one on the floor next to us, and I did the same with the lilies I bought. Looking at the clock, I realised I only had 45 minutes left to get the food before Aria arrived.

_Aria:_

I got to Ezra's apartment at 5:35pm; I usually hated being late, but I had to park around the block so that no one saw my car. I really hated all this sneaking around. I knocked on the door at 3B and gasped when Ezra opened the door. He had his best jumper and jeans on, but that wasn't what made me gasp. He had completely romanticised the apartment; there were candles, flowers and blankets everywhere and there was even dinner already on the table. I gave Ezra a massive kiss, and began to cry happy tears. Ezra ushered me into his apartment, wiped away my tears and kissed me again.

"I love you," he said, and gestured towards the table.

"I love you too," I replied as I grabbed a plate of Chinese food and sat on the floor. Ezra did the same, but he also brought over a bottle of champagne.

"I know you're underage, but I won't tell if you won't," he winked at me. Jokes about our age were definitely becoming easier to make. Ezra put on my favourite film, an old black and white movie called The 39 Steps. I don't know why it's my favourite, but it's my go-to Sunday afternoon movie. We were having the perfect evening; everything felt right. Then it felt really right. It was 11pm by the time we'd finished our third film of the evening, and I wasn't ready to end the evening yet. While Ezra got a pie out from the fridge for us, I quickly drained my glass of champagne and took off my jumper, revealing a skimpy vest top underneath. I watched Ezra as he carefully cut two slices of pie and put them on a plate. When he brought them over, I knew what was going to happen, and so did he. And it was then that I realised what tonight had been about; the roses, lilies, candles, romantic evening. He was giving me the movie perfect first time. Ezra set the two plates down next to the blanket, and after he did, I mounted him and began kissing him. _Better late than never, _I thought.

Ezra returned the kiss, with the same passion as he did earlier. He turned us over so I was on the floor on my back; Ezra started giving me small kisses along my neck and across my right shoulder. He pulled down my strap and did the same to the left shoulder. I went to pull off his jumper, but Ezra stopped me. "No," he muttered into the crook of my neck. "Not tonight, baby". Ezra made a trail of kisses down my arm and toward my right hand.

"Aria," he began to say, his left hand holding my right while his right hand supported my back. "I love you. And I promise to protect you, now and always." He reached behind me and pulled out a small box from under his bed.

I gasped. _Oh god, _I thought, _is he proposing?_

Reading my thoughts, Ezra said, "no, I'm not proposing marriage. I'm proposing us. This ring-" He pulled out a simple silver ring that splits to form two overlapping bands with a row of diamonds on the top band "- I propose that we will always be together, and we will do what feels right for us, not other people." He put the ring on my middle finger. "Wear this ring to remind you that we know we're right for each other, and to do what makes us happy." Suddenly, the romanticised apartment was the second most romantic thing to happen to me today. I reached up and kissed Ezra, showing him how much this meant to me, thanking him that he wanted this just as much as I did. Ezra broke the kiss, kissed me on my forehead and sat back up. "Do you want to put another film on? I don't know what el-" No, I didn't want to watch another film. I cut him off by kissing him again, jumping into his lap, determined to get my way. I wanted all of Ezra, this night was the night that would change everything, the night that made us stronger.

I pulled back and took my top off, revealing my bare chest. Ezra smiled and began kissing me again, running his hands up my back, over my bum and legs. I tugged at his top, begging him to let me take it off and he did. He too, was wearing nothing under his jumper. I wanted to make a joke about how we'd both obviously planned this easy path to nakedness, but I didn't have the time. I needed him. Ezra stood up and went over to his bedside table to get protection and on his return his took his pants off, leaving him in just his underwear. He knelt on the floor and paused; he just looked at me.

"Ezra, it's okay. I want this," I assured him, but he seemed unconvinced. I then unbuttoned my jeans. stood up to slide them off, and then knelt down in front of Ezra. "I really want this, I want you, all of you. I want us to experience every part of being in a relationship. It's okay," I reassured him, giving him my smile that confirmed my words. Ezra leaned in and kissed me again, this time it was different; it was passionate, but it was slow and gentle. We laid back on the floor, and removed each other's underwear. We never took our eyes off each other as Ezra prepared himself and broke through my virginity. It hurt, like really hurt, but it felt right.

We must have made love at least 3 times, each time we grew closer as a couple, and fell deeper and deeper in love.


	3. Chapter 3

**So sorry this took so long for me to upload, I was uninspired for a few days, but hopefully you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Chapter 3; Appearances**

_Aria_

I woke up at about 8:30, my naked body felt amazing against the soft cotton sheets on Ezra's bed. I rolled over on to my right side and the first thing I did was wince. I hurt, like down there. It was incredibly sore; I needed to take a shower, or a bath. The apartment smelled strongly of sex, and I blushed like a naughty school kid. But then this other smell broke through; pancakes. It was then that I realised that Ezra was no longer in the bed, and he was in fact cooking us breakfast. He didn't realise that I was awake, and so he carried on getting breakfast together. I always loved how he looks when he concentrates; his mouth slightly open, brows slightly furrowed. He was just wearing boxers, loosely hanging off his hips. His back had a few scratches, courtesy of myself. He put breakfast on a big tray, complete with a pot of tea and a small jug of orange juice. He picked one of the roses from a nearby vase and laid it on the tray. As he turned to bring it over to me, he noticed I was awake and chuckled to himself.

"Morning beautiful," he said, as he carefully placed the tray on the duvet. I sat up and crossed my legs. Ezra had made three kinds of pancakes; plain, blueberry and banana. I briefly wondered how long it took him to make these, but then Ezra gave me a kiss on the cheek and served me a plate of pancakes and the thought left my mind. We spent the morning in bed; once we had finished our breakfast, Ezra sat back against the wall and started to mark papers, whilst I rested my head against his legs and began reading _Wuthering Heights. _

Everything was perfect, and for a moment I was able to pretend that we were a normal functioning couple that didn't have any problems; I could hear my phone buzzing in my bag, a sound that brought me back to reality. I leapt out of bed, grabbed Ezra's t-shirt that was on the floor, threw it on and checked my phone. I had a couple of texts from Spencer, but the most recent text was from my Mom, asking me to meet her tonight. It was a very vague text, a text that sent a panic over myself. Did she know I wasn't really at Spencer's? Oh god, was she just being nice so that I would go home and then she would yell at me? Call the police?

"Are you okay Aria?" Ezra asked. I turned around to face him, and nodded. "No you're not," he got out of bed and joined me and my side. His arm snaked around my waist. "What's wrong?"

I looked up at him, "I think Mom knows I lied," I whispered, as though afraid she would hear me. Ezra's faced briefly flashed red, his eyes widened.

"How… How do you know that? Did she say anything?"

"She text me asking me to come home and meet her tonight. Why would she want that? Do you think she knows?"

Ezra read over the text a couple of times before answering. "Aria, don't panic. I think if she wanted you home she would have text you earlier. Hey, you've got two texts from Spencer". He opened the texts and I watched him through scared eyes. "Spencer said your mum rang this morning to see where you were, but she told her you were in the shower." He looked at me and showed me the phone. "Aria, it's okay, Spencer covered for you."

I read and re-read the text, slowly calming myself. Ezra hugged me tightly, slowly rubbing my back. "Everything's okay, I promise."

It was getting tough, all this pretending and sneaking around. What I would give to be able to tell my parents that I was at Ezra's, to hold his hand when we walk down the street, to dine in public. I longed for a way to be able to tell my parents about Ezra and me. Maybe something will happen one day, and everything will work out. But for now, I was getting increasingly more paranoid every time my phone rings; is it A? Is it Mom? It was almost to the point where I wanted to throw my heads in the air and give up, but my love for Ezra was stronger than my urge to give up, and Ezra knew all of this, and he knew how to keep me sane.

"Now," Ezra said, kissing my head before slowly making his way down to my neck. "How about we get you showered?" I giggled, then grabbed his hand and pulled him into the shower, trying to ignore my sore area.

After the best shower of my life, Ezra and I spent the next few hours watching a couple of black and white movies before I decided to go home, get changed and then meet Mom. I was on my way home with a smile spread so widely across my face; it was as though it was permanently stuck. I was no longer worried that my parents thought I was lying and I was very close to not caring if they did. I wanted to show them how much Ezra and I loved each other, and I didn't care what they thought. For once, I was insanely happy.

Ezra disappeared from my mind the second I walked in the door. Meredith and my Dad were on the sofa. Together. Yeah. I slammed the door behind me loudly; Dad went bright red and was stunned into silence, whereas Meredith turned to face me, a wicked grin on her face. Anger filled me, my hands turned into fists. I couldn't look at him; I ran up to my room and locked the door behind me. Dad. And Meredith. Again. And after everything she did to me, drugging me, locking me in the basement, and he went back to her.

The front door closed, and I could hear footprints coming up the stairs. Knowing that Dad would want to talk and would definitely find a way to get in, I dragged my armchair across the floor and pushed it against the door. I then hastily began packing up my things, filling up two bags with clothes, all the while my Dad was twisting the doorknob and trying to talk to me. After I'd put the majority of my clothes, jewellery and makeup into bags, I threw them out the window, pulled out a backpack and filled it with my two favourite books and my laptop.

"Aria? Aria, please open the door. Please. We need to talk about this. Oh god, I'm so sorry", my Dad was still talking through the door. I took one last look around my room, then an angry glance at the door, and climbed out my window. There was a huge oak tree just outside my window, which had a huge branch that I could easily climb onto. I was in such a hurry to escape that I wasn't looking where I was going; the twigs and the branches kept getting caught on my clothes, in my hair and scratched my bare arms. My foot slipped on the tree trunk, causing me to fall off the tree and directly onto my left side, causing me to cry out in pain. Upon realising that my Dad probably heard, I swiftly pushed myself off the ground, grabbed all of my bags, and ran to my car. As I slammed the car door shut, I saw my Dad leaning out of my bedroom window. Our eyes met for a few seconds, and then I reversed out of the drive and sped off down the road, tears falling down my cheeks.

I wasn't concentrating on the road, but my subconscious drove me to where I needed to go. Twenty minutes after leaving home, I was standing outside Ezra's apartment, crying my eyes out with twigs in my hair and scratches up my arms.

_Ezra_

I'd had the best 24 hours of my life. I was falling deeper and deeper in love with Aria. She'd left to spend the evening with her Mom, probably end up staying there and no doubt she'd be back in the morning with coffee like she always did on Sundays.

I was just getting ready to go out and grab food for dinner when I heard someone crying from the hallway. Thinking it was one of my neighbours, I decided to be nonchalant about checking out the noise, so I pulled on my hoodie and shoes, grabbed my keys and opened the door.

Aria was stood outside my door, crying her eyes out, scratches up her arms, dirt on her face, carrying her bags. _Her parents have kicked her out, _I thought, alarm bells going off inside my mind. Trying to keep calm, I took her bags in one hand, and used my other to guide Aria inside. Once I'd shut the door, Aria collapsed on the floor and really began to howl. I held Aria in my arms and let her cry for a good forty-five minutes.

_Aria_

I stopped crying after a really long time, all the while Ezra held me in his arms. I looked up at Ezra through damp eyes and opened my mouth to talk. Ezra stopped me by scooping me up into his arms and carrying me into the bathroom. He picked the twigs out of my hair and kissed me on my forehead.

"I caught Dad and Meredith together," I said quietly. Ezra stopped washing my face and stared at me in shock. "They were together… on the sofa… when I walked in." I dropped my gaze and began to cry again. Ezra carried on washing the dirt off my face, cleaned the scratches on my arms and helped me into my pjs. I climbed into Ezra's bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

I must have only been asleep for a few moments before my phone started ringing. I was about to get out of bed to answer when Ezra picked it up.

"Hi Mrs Montgomery… Yes she's here… I think you should come over, Aria needs her Mom," Ezra put down the phone and turned to wake me, but he saw that I was already awake. We exchanged a half smile, trying to prepare ourselves for what would happen when Mom arrives.


	4. Chapter 4

**Just a short chapter this time as I'm busy with last minute coursework as well as exam revision!**

**Chapter 4; Truth**

Mom arrived 10 minutes after she rang me, and when she did, she had a look of extreme concern on her face. I could tell she wasn't angry that I was with Ezra, but I felt as though she thought something had happened between the two of us. She crossed the apartment and sat on the bed. She leaned over and hugged me; as soon she did, I burst into tears. Ezra left us alone and began to make some tea.

"Aria, what's happened?" Mom said softly, holding me tightly. I swallowed before answering.

"I caught Dad and Meredith on the sofa… together…" It was easier to say when I wasn't looking at her, but still proved a difficult sentence to say out loud. I felt Mom tense, and I sat still, waiting for her to react. She squeezed me harder for a few seconds, and then leaned back so she could see my face.

"Now I understand why your father was so insistent on Mike staying at mine," she took a deep breath. "I want Mike to stay with me for a while and I'm happy for you to stay here with Ezra." I couldn't believe my ears. And neither could Ezra; he stood near us holding a tray looking incredibly stunned. Mom laughed, "you don't need to look so shocked, I can see the effect Aria has on you, and you have on her. Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to have a word with my ex-husband." Mom slipped into the bathroom to ring dad.

Ezra sat next to me; the look of disbelief had not yet left his face. I took his hand in mine and smiled at him, the conversation between my Mom and I had just hit me. I was going to be living with Ezra. Temporarily, yes. But still. Mom was still in the bathroom, having a shouting match with Dad, cursing and screaming at him for what he did. I felt really bad for Mom, she didn't need this, she didn't need any of this. And after I thought about everything that Mom and Dad had done, I realised that my Mom loved me more than my Dad did.

Mom came out from the bathroom shaking with anger. She sat down at the edge of the bed, and looked at both Ezra and I.

"I haven't told your father that you're staying here. He thinks that you're at Hanna's. I'm going over to talk to Ashley now, I think that she will understand exactly what I'm going through," Mom had clearly thought this through, which made me think that this wasn't a spontaneous plan. "Ezra, I'm going to give you money to help pay for Aria to live here, just tell me how much you need." Ezra began to speak when Mom raised her hand to silence him. "Not now, but soon. Aria, do you need anything else from your room?" I had to think before answering.

"No, I think I managed to get enough for a while," I smiled.

"Good. Now, stay here as long as you like. I know that this is going to be tricky, given that you're still underage, however as no one knows what is going on behind closed doors, and that I have given my consent for you to live here, I think everything will be okay," Mom smiled for the first time since she arrived. "I'm going to go back home now, make sure Mike is okay and so I can tell him what's going on." She fished around in her bag and produced some notes. "Here's $60, that's all I've got on me at the moment, should last you the weekend," Mom handed it to me and smiled again. "Love you Aria," she said.

"Love you too, Mom," I said, tossing the money aside, jumping out of bed and squeezing her tightly. "You're amazing," I whispered into her ear. With a kiss on my forehead and a smile at Ezra, Mom left the apartment.

Ezra and I stood there for a few moments in complete silence. It was a strange silence; we should both be happy, I mean, my Mom said we can live together! Yet there was something in the pit of my stomach that told me it wasn't over yet.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey! Sorry it's taken me so long to write a new chapter, I had two massive exams and then I went through a breakup and just haven't had a chance! But here it is, chapter 5:_

**Chapter 5; Change**

I'd been living with Ezra for over a month and it was perfect. Every morning he made me breakfast in bed, and cooked dinner every night; I didn't know what I was happier about, the fact that I was living with Ezra or the fact that he could now cook. I didn't tell the girls immediately, I was so worried about how they'd react, but honestly they were really cool about it. Well, Emily looked really concerned, Spencer made a sarcastic comment and Hanna made a joke about what "Fitz" looks like in the morning, but they were really supportive, especially after I told them about Meredith and dad. Everything was perfect, until this morning.

I woke up and fell out of bed rushing to the toilet to be sick. It was horrific; I hadn't eaten since yesterday lunch so all I was throwing up was stomach acid. Ezra woke up a few moments after I was sick, and sat down next to me.

"Hey, is everything alright?" He rubbed my back and pulled my hair away from my face. I kept my head in the toilet though, too embarrassed to look at him.

"No, this is so gross," I mumbled.

"Did you eat something funny?" He asked, still rubbing my back.

"No, I haven't eaten since yesterday lunch..." My voice went quiet, as panic washed over me. I was late. Really late.

I wiped my chin and flushed the toilet, and looked at Ezra. He saw the panic on my face, but he didn't yet share it.

"I-I'm late," I mumbled, barely looking him in the eye.

"What? Late? For what?" The confusion clear in his voice. I raised my eyebrows at him, urging him to think about what I was saying. Then the penny dropped and the colour drained from his face.

"Oh god. Are you sure? Oh god," he stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. I threw up for the fourth time.

"Yeah I'm sure. I haven't been on since before we moved..." And then it hit me. The only time we'd slept together was the morning I caught Dad and Meredith together. As I looked back, I remembered I'd had some symptoms, but I'd just written them off as me feeling stressed, and now I realise I could actually be pregnant.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6; Intense

The look of fear on both of our faces was more intense that the fear that A had ever left me. Okay, so the pregnancy wasn't confirmed yet, so there was still that small chance that this was just a fake pregnancy. Was there such a thing as a fake pregnancy? Like, you can have fake labour, but I couldn't think of any time I'd heard of a fake pregnancy.

Ezra couldn't look me in the eye and anger filled up inside me. Why wasn't he looking at me? Did he think I planned this? Did he honestly think I wanted to get pregnant? The anger took over me, lifted me up from the ground and made me scream at him.

"Why won't you look at me? Did you think I wanted this?" This seemed to snap him back to reality, but the moment our eyes met, I realised he couldn't look at me for his own guilt, not in anger of me. I immediately dropped my gaze, feeling like absolute crap. My eyes filled with tears and I fell to the floor. "What am I going to do?"

Ezra appeared at my side, his arm wrapped around me, instantly comforting me. He took a couple of deep breaths before answering. "I'll go down to the drugstore and get you a pregnancy test. Then we'll take it from there, okay?" I nodded, but as Ezra got up to leave, my arm shot out and grabbed his.

"Wait, don't go to Rosewood. Go to Philly." Ezra looked incredibly confused. "There are people in this town that know we're together. What's it going to look like if you get a pregnancy test?"

Ezra sighed, "Okay, well it's going to take me about an hour to get there and back. Are you going to be all right?" That was a good question. Was I? Part of me was screaming for my mum to be here, to hold me, to tell me what to do, but I knew what would happen. She would have to tell Dad, and Dad would no doubt call the police. Oh god. Ezra was going to get arrested. Oh god. How could we be so careless? My heart began to race, sweat building in my palms. I looked up at Ezra and he knew exactly what was going through my head. Once again, he ran his hand through his head, his go-to thinking gesture, before answering. "Why don't you call one of the girls? It's safer than calling your mum." He walked over to me, kissed me on the head and left.

I pulled myself off the floor, and brushed my teeth and looked at myself in the mirror. I felt like I had aged 20 years in the past hour, and I wasn't even sure I was pregnant yet. But a part of me knew that I was clinging to the hope that I wasn't because the truth was too hard to handle. I walked out the bathroom and picked up my phone. Three best friends, but who to call?

"Hey!" Spencer's voice immediately brought me to tears. "Aria? Hey, what's up?" I couldn't speak at all; everytime I tried, I just cried harder. "Are you at Ezra's?" I managed to squeak out a "yes", to which Spencer replied that she was on her way over.

I put the phone down and began to cry harder than I ever had, curled up on the floor next to the bed. I stayed there until Spencer arrived and gave me the biggest hug we'd shared.

"What's wrong? Did he hurt you?" She whispered, as if the words were physical knives that could hurt.

"No," I managed to say after a few moments. "I-I think I'm pregnant". Spencer shared the same fear that Ezra and I had shared earlier. I knew she was thinking the same as me; how I couldn't tell my parents without the risk of Ezra getting arrested.

"Where is he?"

"I asked him to go to Philly, he's getting me a test," I muttered into Spencer's shoulder.

"Okay. Right," Spencer was about to go into mother mode, and I was eternally grateful for it. "Let's get you up and dressed, have you eaten yet?" I shook my head. "I'll make you some food, do you want to get dressed or have a shower first?"

"I think I want a shower."

"Okay, go have a shower and I'll make some breakfast". Spencer helped me out, and into the bathroom. She turned the shower on for me and left me in peace.

Showers were the perfect place for me to think about everything, somewhere I could be alone. So what were my options? Have the baby and risk getting Ezra arrested or have an abortion and spend the rest of my life knowing I let my first baby go. I've always wanted a baby, and since being with Ezra, I've always imagined him being the father and having a family with him. But I'd always imagined us being settled in life and married before babies would even be part of the equation.

"Aria? Food's ready!" Spencer popped her head round the bathroom door, placing a couple of towels on the floor. How the hell did she find them?

I wrapped my hair up and put the towel around my body and stepped outside. Spencer was setting the table up, the smell of waffles drifted around the apartment. We ate in silence, knowing each other better than to try and fill the silence with awkward small talk. Spencer knew that there was nothing that could be said that would make me feel better, other than the words "you're not pregnant" or "Ezra won't be arrested".

After breakfast, I got dressed into a baggy t shirt and leggings and slumped onto the sofa. Spencer laughed at me, "oh Aria, is the baggy top really necessary?" I then burst into uncontrollable laughter. We continued to laugh for the next ten minutes until Ezra came back.

The laughter stopped as soon as Ezra walked in. "Hey Spencer," he said.

"Hey," she replied, trying to act as normal as possible. "Aria told me, I really appreciate you going to Philly," she said with a smile.

"Thanks," he walked over to me, kissed me on the forehead and handed me a bag. "Are you ready?" This was another question I didn't know the answer to. I took the bag but didn't move. My heart was racing again, the sweaty palms. Spencer got me a glass of water. "Just in case," she said, with a kind smile. All three of us laughed.

I shut myself in the bathroom and took out the test. Here goes nothing, I said to myself.

The next two minutes were the longest two minutes of my life. I left the test in the bathroom and sat on the sofa, Spencer had her arm around me and Ezra stood nervously in the kitchen, his eyes on the floor.

"It's time," Spencer said.

"I can't. I can't look," I said, my heart beating so loudly and furiously my chest was moving. I looked up at Ezra, hoping he would be brave for us, but he shook his head, tears filled his eyes.

"I'll look, if you want me too?" Spencer offered. I nodded my head, as did Ezra. As Spencer stepped into the bathroom, Ezra came next to me and held my hand tightly. When Spencer returned, she stood in front of us.

"What does it say?" Ezra asked.

"Erm..." Spencer began to say, looking from the test to us and back again.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Reality Bites

"It's positive," Spencer mumbled.

You could hear a pin drop in the apartment. Everyone was processing the information. Strangely, my heart had stopped beating furiously, and I didn't feel like crying anymore. I was completely at ease. Was it because I was okay with being pregnant, or because I had become completely numb. Having an abortion was out of the question, I knew that the second Spencer said it's positive. I'm having a baby. I turned to look at Ezra who was waiting for my reaction. I smiled at him, tears in my eyes. "I'm having a baby," I said.

"No," Ezra said, "We're having a baby," he returned the smile, and we embraced. All the fear of what would happen to us if everyone found out went away the second Ezra smiled at me. I looked down at the ring he had given me the first night we slept together and was comforted in the knowledge that Ezra was telling the truth. Spencer was still holding the test, but she didn't share the smile that me and Ezra did.

"Spence? What's wrong?" She took a few moments before answering.

"I'm really happy for you guys, but you haven't thought this through at all," Spencer was back into Mother Mode. "Mr Fitz, you could get in serious trouble for this, like, you could be arrested! You need to talk to your Mom, she deserves to know," Spencer said, matter-of-factly. We both knew she was right, but I also knew that I couldn't get rid of my baby. I looked to Ezra for advice on what we should do.

"Spencer's right. We need to tell your Mom," I knew he was going to say that.

"I'll leave you guys to it," Spencer said, awkwardly handed me the test and left.

"Maybe we should talk about it together before we get Mom involved," I said, knowing that Mom would want to know our exact thoughts and plans. "Like, seriously, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know. Are... Are you happy?" Ezra said so quietly I barely heard him. Was I happy? This would change my life forever, I would always be a Mom. I was still in high school, like how could I look after another person when I was still growing up? I didn't know what I wanted to do for a career, I mean being a writer was always something I hoped I'd achieve, but I needed to something to do to pay the bills. How would I support a baby? I was still getting money from my Mom. But then I saw the look on Ezra's face when I told him we were having a baby and I knew that I could rely on him. I knew that I wouldn't be alone, that I would have him supporting us as well. But was he ready for that?

"Are you?" I realised I'd avoided the question myself, but I needed to know.

"Yes. How could I not? I've always wanted a family, and I want to have that family with you," he said, with a kind smile, and I knew he was telling the truth. "It's going to be hard, but we will figure it out. We've been through worse," he added and kissed me on the forehead.

"I suppose we better tell Mom," I said.

"Yeah".

Mom answered after the second ring and said she'd be right over. I tried to brace myself for what would come; anger? Sadness? Disappointment? When Mom turned up, she was in a really good mood, and I felt immediately guilty because soon I would take that away.

"Mom, come sit down," I said, sitting on the sofa next to Mom, and Ezra sat in the armchair. She could tell something was wrong, and a part of me figured that she knew what was coming. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. Eventually I just handed her the test, not daring to look her in the eye. She took the test, and didn't say anything, just took a few deep breaths. "Please say something," I mumbled.

**What do you think Ella's reaction should be? Let me know in the comments!**


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